Margao: The United Tribals Associations Alliance (UTAA) will hold a meeting on Saturday to plan a state-wide campaign demanding political reservation for Goa’s Scheduled Tribe (ST) community.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, UTAA president Prakash Velip, executive members advocate John Fernandes, Vishwas Gaude and Joseph Vaz, and other members said the organisation would visit ST households across Goa to explain the issue and mobilise support.
“We will involve our ST members, take their opinions, and plan out a strategy on Saturday to fight for our genuine demand, which the central and state BJP governments have denied us for a decade,” Fernandes said.
Fernandes warned the ruling BJP that the community would “see to it that the BJP is defeated in Goa” if political reservation was not granted before the announcement of the Assembly election schedule.
Fernandes also appealed to ST members affiliated with political parties or their ST cells not to make statements against UTAA or the community at the behest of their party leaders. He urged them to study the issue before commenting, saying the community’s welfare should remain the priority.
Asked whether political reservation could be implemented within the available timeframe, Velip alleged, “The Chief Electoral Officer of Goa explicitly told us that it is entirely possible within a month’s time if the government and the Election Commission are serious about it. When we met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, he claimed his role was limited after issuing the state notification, shifting the onus to the ECI. We have been informed that only table work is left.”
He said the state and central governments needed to follow up the matter actively because UTAA could not approach the Election Commission of India (ECI) directly in this case.
Velip said UTAA was not against any particular political party but was fighting for its “birth-right”. He said the recent notification had been secured only after the organisation threatened to hold a large public meeting at Azad Maidan in Panaji.
The leaders also demanded that the government cancel its planned expenditure of Rs 8 crore on the Birsa Munda commemoration programme. They criticised the Tribal Welfare Department for spending Rs 4.41 crore on a recent event without consulting UTAA and objected to the use of event management firms.
